


Use Your Damn Words

by wilddragonflying



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, First Time, Heats, Knotting, M/M, Misunderstandings, Reunions, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2014-04-30
Packaged: 2018-01-21 03:28:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1535939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wilddragonflying/pseuds/wilddragonflying
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s murmuring, indistinct voices, all around him; all he catches, at first, are the occasional words.<br/>“—mated.”<br/>“—no difference—“<br/>“—make him forget—“<br/>That’s when Bucky starts fighting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a quick, not-quite-cohesive A/B/O Stucky fic. Um, enjoy?
> 
> Also, apparently I will now be occasionally adding to this verse. So you may be seeing more chapters added to this sporadically.

There’s murmuring, indistinct voices, all around him; all he catches, at first, are the occasional words.

“— _mated._ ”

“— _no difference—“_

_“—make him forget—“_

That’s when Bucky starts fighting, even though he’s weak, disoriented—he can’t forget, can’t let them take Steve away from him, not when he’s only had Steve for a few weeks—

Before the sedatives take him under, he hears one last thing.

_“We’ll train it out of him.”_

***

There’s a familiar scent in the air. Ivan knows he’s never encountered this scent before, but he _knows_ it. Irrelevant to the mission; ignore it.

He does, until he hears: “Bucky?”

Ivan glances back over his shoulder at his mission; the source of that familiar-not-familiar scent. “Who the hell is Bucky?”

***

“Then finish it. Cause I’m with you to the end of the line.”

Hurts, hurts, can’t—

_“I’m with you the end of the line, pal.”_

_“You’re it for me, Bucky. End of the line; I can’t live without you. I love you.”_

Before Ivan—Bucky?—can say anything, the Captain falls into the river.

Bucky doesn’t think before following.

***

_Rumors circulated that after Rogers rescued Barnes from the first HYDRA base they destroyed, Barnes and Rogers mated. These rumors were never confirmed; the Howling Commandos, Barnes, and Rogers all took scent suppressors, the better to carry out stealth missions…_

Bucky read the inscription several times over, each reading only cementing his suspicions. He knew Rogers’s scent, because Rogers’s scent was _his_ scent, their scent.

Rogers was his mate.

***

The only reaction Bucky gets when he shows up outside of Steve’s apartment in Brooklyn is a slow blink and a “Surprised to see you again.”

Bucky shrugs. “You’re my mate,” he says simply, doesn’t miss the way Steve stiffens. “I recognized your—our—scent in D.C. HYDRA’s scattered now, and I—I’m not their weapon anymore.” His jaw clenches, and he looks to the side. “I can’t remember everything, just bits and pieces, but I know—I know I loved you. And you loved me. We mated, and I don’t—It’s for life.” He shrugs. “Figured since we’re both still alive…”

“I’m not having sex with you,” Steve says flatly, and Bucky can’t hide his wince, his inner omega wimpering at what sounds like a rejection. Steve sees it, has to, no way he could’ve missed it. “But you can come in. Maybe we’ll figure out… something.”

It’s more than Bucky was hoping for, and he takes it gratefully.

***

Steve introduces him to the Avengers, doesn’t call Bucky his mate (and Bucky pretends that doesn’t hurt), but by the way most of their eyes narrow, it’s obvious that seventy years of cryostasis and separation from his mate haven’t really done much to mask the way their scents combined after their first mating.

Stark’s the first to corner him. “So. Any reason why Cap didn’t tell us that you’re mated?”

Bucky shrugs, tries to pretend the thought doesn’t hurt. “Been seventy years,” he answers. “People change.”

“Mates don’t,” Stark points out. “Mating is for life.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Bucky growls, his hands clenching into fists by his side. “I do. But obviously, for whatever reason, Steve regrets it. I’m not going to try anything, if that’s what you’re worried about. I thought he could help me figure out who the hell I am, considering that I don’t know which memories are real and which aren’t.”

Tony studies him for several moments without saying anything; Bucky leaves before he does, heads to the gym to kill a few punching bags.

***

“Care to tell me why your mate thinks you regret mating him?”

Steve chokes on his sandwich; how the hell had Stark snuck up on him? Then Stark’s words register, and Steve whips around to face him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I had an interesting conversation with Barnes,” Tony says nonchalantly. “Asked him if he knew why you didn’t introduce him as your mate.”

“What?” Steve demands, staring at Tony in horror. “Why?”

“Because it’s obvious; you two still smell exactly the same,” the Beta answers, rolling his eyes, the _duh_ unspoken but heard nonetheless.

“No, why did you _ask him_?”

“Because I wanted to talk to him.” Tony shrugs, like it doesn’t matter that he asked Bucky an incredibly personal question. “He said something about you obviously regretting mating him, and how he wasn’t going to try to initiate anything, or some bullshit like that.”

“I don’t regret it,” Steve protests, aghast. How can Bucky even think—

“Then why don’t you touch him?” Stark challenges, and yeah, that might be why Bucky thinks Steve regrets it. He hasn’t touched Bucky unless absolutely necessary since Bucky showed up outside his apartment.

“I—He was brainwashed, frozen—“

“All the more reason for _his alpha_ to be overprotective and extremely tactile,” Stark retorts. “Your omega has been through hell, and here you are, not offering him _any_ sort of comfort. I don’t know if he came to you _wanting_ any of that stuff, but that’s what he needs, and you know it.”

Yes, Steve knows it; has been fighting the urge to squirrel himself and Bucky away in his apartment, or even his room here, and keep them both in bed until he can breathe easier, until he knows that Bucky’s really not hurt, that he’s really there, and that he’s not going anyway. Has been fighting the urge to constantly touch, to _mark_.

Tony seems to read all that in Steve’s face. “Go get your omega, you idiot.”

***

Only Steve doesn’t; not in the way Tony was probably talking about, anyway. He doesn’t hoard Bucky away, scent mark him until their scent is all that either one of them can smell, but he does start touching Bucky more. Little touches, but the startled look infused with repressed, subconscious hope, is enough to damn near break Steve’s heart—Bucky truly thought, it seems, that Steve was rejecting him.

He makes sure to touch Bucky, even when it’s not necessary. He helps Bucky get through the nightmares, the rough transitions when a memory comes back—and sometimes, in the middle of the night, Bucky regains whole years’ worth of memories.

He starts getting Bucky gifts, and taking him out on the town, to the theater, restaurants, Central Park, anywhere he thinks Bucky will enjoy.

***

Bucky stares at the box sitting on his bed. It’s wrapped, like a present, and Bucky remembers—

_“Jesus, another one?”_

_Bucky whipped around to look at Steve, laughing at the disgusted-disgruntled look on the young, scrawny alpha’s face. “Yeah, another. No way am I opening it, though. It’s from Dougan.”_

_Steve pulls a face. “Really? That guy’s after half the omegas in Brooklyn, it seems.”_

_“Exactly,” Bucky says, taking a shoe and poking at the box until it falls off of the bed. “I’m not letting him court me, as well. Not gonna let any alpha court me, not for a good long while.” He turns back to Steve in time to catch the last bit of—something—being wiped off of the younger man’s face._

_“Well, good for you,” Steve says after a moment. “Besides, all the women at those bars you go to would be heartbroken if you settled down.”_

_Bucky laughs._

***

“What the _hell_ are you doing?”

Bucky bursts into Steve’s room unannounced—he’d specifically asked JARVIS to not warn the Captain that he was coming—and immediately stalks over to the alpha, brandishing the box that holds a chain with dog tags on them—dog tags stamped with his and Steve’s names, and a date, which Bucky suspects is the date of their mating.

Steve’s startled, to say the least. He watches Bucky warily as the omega approaches. “What are you talking about?”

Bucky waves the box in his right hand emphatically. “ _This_ , Steve! Gifts, outings—you think I don’t know what you’re doing?” Really, how had it _not_ occurred to him before now? “You’re fucking _courting_ me.” He spits the word _courting_ like it’s poison, and doesn’t miss how Steve recoils.

There’s silence between them, unbroken for several long minutes before Steve asks, his voice small, “Are you rejecting me?”

Bucky stares at Steve incredulously. “Rejecting you?”

Steve’s jaw clenches. “I mean, I know what I did—said—when you first showed back up was shitty, but I didn’t—I wasn’t rejecting you. I just… I needed to be sure it was _you_ , and I—“ He cuts himself off with a sigh. “I understand if you don’t want me as your alpha anymore,” he finishes, his voice quiet.

Bucky just stares, stares until he has to _move_ , or he’s going to do something stupid. Like kiss Steve. So he turns on his heel, paces away from Steve, turns back, and continues pacing. “I’m not rejecting you,” he says, not looking at Steve and not stopping his steps. “But yeah, that was shitty—I thought you regretted it. Regretted me. Then you start giving me gifts, and taking me out, and _touching_ me, like I’m something special, something precious, and I—Fuck, Steve, I can’t do this.”

Steve’s eyes widen almost comically as Bucky stomps over to him. The blond opens his mouth to say something, but Bucky cuts him off with a kiss. It’s new, but at the same time, it’s familiar. Bucky knows how to do this, how to kiss Steve just right to make him moan.

When they pull apart, Bucky glares at Steve. “Fucker. Use your damn words next time.”

Steve just laughs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bucky wants to remember exactly how he and Steve got together.

Bucky and Steve are curled up in Steve's bed, stripped down to their boxers, when Bucky finally gets up the courage to ask his mate a question that's been bothering him ever since he received the dog tags currently hanging around his neck. "Steve? How did-- How did we mate?" Bucky hates the way his voice sounds-- lost, apprehensive-- but he hates the fact that he  _can't remember_ even more.

Steve's quiet for a moment. "I'd just pulled you from the HYDRA base," he starts, his voice soft, slightly muffled from where he's got his face pressed into the back of Bucky's neck.

***

"You're a damned idiot, Steve, I hope you know that," Bucky grumbled, eyeing the doctor giving him his check-up distrustfully. "Thought I took all the stupid with me."

"You were supposed to," Steve shot back. "Turns out some of it stuck to me." He gestured to his body.

"And that's another thing," Bucky added, transferring his scowl from the doctor to his best friend. "Last time I saw you, you barely came up to my chest, and I could've bench-pressed you. What the hell happened?"

Steve's face fell. "Dr. Erskine. He had this-- this formula. Made me into a supersoldier. Better healing, better physical capabilities, whole kit and caboodle," he explained.

Bucky took his time studying Steve. Eventually, he let a slow smile curve his mouth. "Well, at least now you look like an Alpha."

***

"You threw a fit when the doctors wanted you to stay in the med tent; said you weren't that bad, and you weren't going to take space from men who needed it more than you did." Bucky considers that for a moment; the words, the sentiment, feel right. "Eventually, I told them I'd keep you in my tent. Doctors didn't like that, said your hormones were so messed up, you might go into heat unexpectedly. Told 'em I didn't care; I'd managed to avoid tying to you during your Heat for years before now. I was sure that I could keep doing that.

"Well, you did go into heat, and I managed to keep everything under control, until you started  _really_ talking."

***

" _Steve,_ " Bucky moaned, curled up on his cot and staring balefully at the blond. "Why aren't you over here with me?" he whined, inching closer.

Steve made himself breathe through his mouth. "We're not mated, Buck," he said, as calmly as he could manage for his thirty-sixth repetition.

"But we could be." It was the first time Bucky had replied seriously, without a joke. Sue him; he'd just been rescued from a HYDRA base by his best friend and the alpha he's been not-quite-discreetly panting after for years. "I'd like it, if we were."

Steve was looking at him like a mouse caught on the counter. "You'd-- you'd  _what_?"

Bucky shrugged one shoulder, scooting closer to Steve, feeling encouraged when the alpha stayed put and let him come closer. "What I said. I'd like it if we were mates." He worried hs lower lip before continuing in a whisper, "I've wanted that for a while."

"So, all those times you begged me to knot you--"

"I really wanted it," Bucky confirmed. He was close enough to touch Steve now, but he couldn't make himself take that last step; it had been hard enough deciding to finally suck it up and speak up. "I wanted you to knot me, wanted to mate with you."

"But... Why?" It was comforting to know that Steve still got that little crease between his eyebrows, and his mouth still pulled the same way it did when he was frowning in confusion. "You never--"

"I was scared," Bucky admitted frankly. "All those women were just covers. Never slept with a single one. I wanted you."

"You had to have known I would never have rejected you," Steve said softly.

"Yeah. But I was still scared, because the way I wanted you, how badly I  _needed_ you-- I've never felt like that before, and I've never known anyone else who has." Bucky looked pleadingly at Steve. "Please? I really--" He took a deep breath, and then finally let out the words he'd been hiding since he was seventeen. "I love you."

Now Steve reached out to touch him. Just a hand to his shoulder, squeezing softly, but it was enough to help settle Bucky, help push back his hormones. "You're it for me, Bucky," he confessed softly, looking at the omega steadily. "To the end of the line; I can't live without you. I love you." Bucky smiled to hear the words, but before he could throw himself on Steve, Steve made the first move, pushing Bucky back onto his cot before moving to cover the omega's body with his own.

***

"We mated that night," Steve whispers. "Peggy told me, first time we left the tent after your heat was over, that it was about damn time I pulled my head out of my ass; she had had enough of my pining." He chuckles, softly, and Bucky searches his memory for this 'Peggy.' He thinks he remembers her.

"So we mated in the middle of a war?" he asks, half-smiling.

Steve chuckles. "Like characters in a dime novel," he confirms, and that gets an answering chuckle from Bucky.

"Well, at least I know how to use my words," he teases, and Steve protests loudly, poking Bucky in the ribs, which promptly provokes a tickle fight; it ends with Bucky pinned to the mattress. Not like he'd want to be anywhere else, really. He grins up at Steve, and then sobers. "I love you," he says, quiet but firm; serious.

Steve stills above him, searching his face quickly; whatever he finds there, it's enough to reassure him, because he leans down to kiss Bucky softly. "I love you, too. You better get used to hearing it; got seventy years to make up for."

Bucky grins into the next kiss. "I'm counting on it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little more background info on the dynamics of this universe. Plus a bit of smut!

It's amazing what people believe omegas can't do.

They believe that omegas are good for nothing but breeding, that they can't fight, can't really earn a wage, can't do  _anything_ except be useful for taking care of an alpha's heat.

Bucky pretends to be a beta, and with the help of suppressants-- given to him by the Mother Superior after he explained that some of the alpha boys had been...  _forward_ \-- he succeeds. Betas don't have heats of any kind, and they're not worshiped like alphas are, but they're still respected more than omegas.

When Steve comes, Bucky knows he's a goner.

There's something about the scrawny alpha that just draws Bucky in; he brushes it off, though, pretends that he just wants to be friends. He's gotten awful good at pretending. Besides, alphas don't mate with betas; it's frowned upon, since only alphas can get omegas pregnant and omegas always breed true; every omega pregnancy recorded has been twins, one alpha and one omega, and no one wants to lose the convenient baby-making machines. So Steve would never think about mating Bucky, anyway.

Steve and Bucky quickly become inseparable, and Bucky tells the Mother Superior that they're just friends, and as long as Bucky stays on the suppressants, he won't do anything wrong.

Then Steve goes into heat when he's fifteen.

Alpha heats are shorter than omega heats, but they're worse-- so, so much worse. It's a heat in every sense of the word; their bodies burn hot to the touch, and they're  _extremely_  horny, so much so that if they get even a  _hint_ of omega, some of the less-well-behaved alphas have been known to accost even mated omegas in the middle of a heat.

Steve's heat is only exacerbated by his medical conditions, and Bucky is worried that Steve won't make it through this heat. The only thing that helps with an alpha's heat is being tied, and Steve's in agony, and Bucky can't just stand by and do nothing.

So he tells the Mother Superior that he's going to let Steve tie him.

She protests, of course; tells him that's a stupid, reckless thing to do, but Bucky's adamant. He won't go off the suppressants, he promises. He won't go into heat-- it's only a mating if the alpha ties the omega during an omega heat. But as an omega, even one that hasn't had a heat in years, Bucky's much better suited than anyone else for this; he'll be looser, easier to stretch and accommodate the knot. Eventually, the Mother Superior agrees; if Steve doesn't tie, it's likely he won't survive this heat.

***

Bucky makes sure to prep himself before going into the room that Steve's been confined to; he doesn't know if the heat will have heightened Steve's sense of smell, let him know that Bucky's not really an beta, but he doesn't want to take the chance. Bucky's still on the suppressants, and there's never been any trouble during another alpha's heat, so he thinks he's safe. But then again, none of the other alphas know Bucky like Steve does.

Steve's sitting on the bed, naked as the day he was born, and he's got both fists clenched in the sheets, adamantly refusing to touch his cock, which looks... painful. It's an almost-angry red, standing erect, and Bucky can see the beginnings of the knot at the base. Steve's eyes are closed, but they snap open when Bucky starts removing his clothes.

"Bucky?" he asks, confused; his voice is rough, scratchy. Bucky finishes stripping before walking over to Steve and sitting down next to him. Steve eyes him cautiously. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm going to let you tie me," Bucky says simply, like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Steve splutters at that. "But-- Buck, you're a beta! Isn't it-- Isn't it going to hurt?"

Bucky shrugs one shoulder. "It'll hurt worse if the heat kills you," he says, and then leans over to kiss Steve.

Steve makes a noise like he's choking, but then apparently his alpha instincts-- the same instincts that won't let him back down when the other kids start picking on him-- kick in, because he's manhandling Bucky down onto the bed, on his stomach, and sliding one finger into Bucky easily. He groans into Bucky's neck. "God," he mutters, mouthing at the skin there. "You prepped yourself?"

Bucky lets out a breathless chuckle. "Said I was going to let you tie me," he answers. "Was betting your instincts wouldn't leave time."

Steve stills at that. "I wouldn't hurt you, Buck," he says softly. "Never."

Bucky nods. "I know. Now hurry up and tie me, punk."

This time it's Steve who chuckles, the chuckle turning into a long, drawn-out groan as he shifts on his knees and slowly pushes into Bucky. Bucky outright moans at the feeling-- so full, and god, is this what Bucky's been missing out on, taking those suppressants?

Steve manages to pause once he's fully seated, but when Bucky senses him getting ready to open his mouth, possibly to ask if Bucky's okay, if he's still sure he wants to do this, Bucky reaches back with one hand, gripping Steve's hip just shy of hard enough to bruise. "If you don't fuck me--" he starts, but that's all he gets out before Steve either gets the message or succumbs to the instincts telling him to fuck the person under him until they scream.

Bucky doesn't scream, but he makes up for it with breathless moans, harsh demands for more, and countless repetitions of Steve's name interspersed with curses and praises. Steve sounds like he's completely gone, lost to his instincts: the only sounds he makes are rough, guttural growls and grunts.

Fuck, maybe Bucky should've offered to tie to some of the other alphas during their heats; he  _loves_ feeling Steve's cock in him, and he's pretty sure that's not just his inner omega talking, even though he feels like it is just rolling over and purring in satisfaction. He knows he sure does; he's fairly certain that he's not going to need to touch himself to get off, and sure enough, when Steve manages to grunt out, "My knot-- " in warning just before thrusting as deep into Bucky as he can and staying there, the knot expanding, Bucky comes with a hoarse shout before collapsing down onto the bed, taking Steve down with him, who makes a half-displeased growl at the tugging on his knot.

"Shuddup," Bucky mumbles, fumbling behind him for the back of Steve's head, threading his fingers through Steve's hair and tugging lightly. That earns him a pleased rumble, and he smiles. "C'mon, big guy. Sleep now."

Steve hums in agreement, adjusting himself slightly before nuzzling into the back of Bucky's neck, his breathing slowing.

Bucky can't remember ever being more content.

***

Steve's awkward when they wake up, but at least the heat's broken now, and Bucky just shrugs. "You're my best friend," he says, like that solves everything. "I wasn't about to let you sit there and suffer, or tie to some random stranger."

Steve studies him. "It's just, I could've sworn, when you came-- " The young alpha shakes his head. "Never mind. Must've been imagining things."

"You've definitely got the mind for it," Bucky says, laughing and playfully shoving Steve to hide the small frisson of fear that's running down his spine.

Steve rolls his eyes and punches Bucky on the arm, and Bucky knows things will be all right.

***

Things aren't all right, of course. When they leave the orphanage, Bucky can no longer afford suppressants. He's terrified that Steve will leave him, yell at him, but all Steve does when he realizes why their apartment smells like an alpha and an omega, and not an alpha and a beta, is look at Bucky for a long moment before shrugging. "I can understand why you took suppressants," he says. "And why you didn't tell me."

After that, Bucky breathes a little easier, until his first heat in six years hits him.

No matter how much Bucky begs, Steve won't tie with him, and Bucky pretends like that doesn't hurt when he can think straight again. Steve shrugs it off, says, "You were in heat, and I was the closest alpha," and that's that the same discussion after every heat, for years until after HYDRA captures Bucky, experiments on him, and he finally gets the nerve to really,  _seriously_ ask Steve to mate him, not just tie him.

Bucky and Steve only get a few weeks to enjoy being mated before they're in the Alps, and Bucky falls from the train.

***

HYDRA tries to train Steve out of him, but there's a part of him that always knows that he's not  _whole_ , that there's a big, important part missing from his life. The problem is, he can't remember what it is after the first year; mind wipes and periodic cryostasis erase the specifics, if not the generality. At first, HYDRA puts him on suppressants, but once he's fully trained, then the cryostasis counteracts the heats; he's never out of cryostasis long enough to go into heat. _  
_

***

When he finds Steve again, after everything in D.C., when they've finally,  _finally_ been fully reunited, Bucky looks forward to and dreads his heat in equal measure. He knows he won't get pregnant, because Nat helped him get some birth control; he doesn't want children, not now at least, and probably not for a good long while. But he does want this heat-- wants to tie with his alpha, wants to feel  _loved_ , cared for. Wants what they never really got to have.

It comes on slowly, not like it did when he and Steve mated. Starts off with just a slow increase in his body temperature-- he'll never get as hot as Steve does during an alpha heat, but the warmth is supposed to help with fertilization. He and Steve haven't been through enough heats as a mated pair for their heats to sync up-- this will only be Bucky's second, and they haven't gone through an alpha heat yet-- but Bucky doesn't have to beg Steve to tie him.

He still does, just because it really,  _really_ gets Steve going to hear him beg.


End file.
